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The Open Championship – Wire to Wire Win for Jordan Spieth

Congratulations to Jordan Spieth for winning The 146th Open Championship. His wire to wire win made for some great copy and the stats on social media were flying faster than we could read. He won in dramatic fashion befitting of many past champions. However, yesterday’s win is all about Jordan Spieth.

I received this comment from Kevin on Sunday and thought it was worth repeating:

Having already claimed the 2015 Masters and 2015 U.S. Open, Spieth can win the third leg of the career grand slam. Only 18 players have won three of golf’s grand slam of majors in their career. Of those 18, only Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods are considered active players.

Still a few days shy of his 24th birthday, Spieth would join Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win three legs of the grand slam before turning 24. Tiger Woods did not win his third major until he was 24 years and six months old.

Combining those last two (total wins and major wins), Spieth’s accomplishments single him out, according to Golf Channel’s Justin Ray.

With a win tomorrow, Jordan Spieth would become 1st player in golf history with 10 PGA Tour wins including 3 majors before age 24. — Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) July 22, 2017. That being said, at Spieth’s current age, Tiger Woods had amassed 15 career PGA Tour wins. Jack Nicklaus had won eight times on Tour by that age.

A win (and even a second-place finish) would vault Spieth ahead of Hideki Matsuyama (pending his finish Sunday, as well) in the world golf ranking. Entering the week, Spieth was just a few decimal points behind Matsuyama. It would also help put a dent in the sizable lead Dustin Johnson owns as world no. 1.

A win would also mean that Spieth will have led or co-led after 14 major rounds since the start of 2015. No other player has more than seven in that span.

With 199 strokes total after three rounds, a 65 from Spieth on Sunday would tie him with Henrik Stenson (2016) for the fewest total strokes over four rounds in a British Open. Henrik Stenson’s total strokes record of 264 set last year is in danger.

If Spieth shoots under par Sunday, win or lose he will be the first player to shoot in the 60s in every round of a British Open at Royal Birkdale. It would also be the first time in his career he would have shot in the 60s in every round of a major.

If he is to win, Spieth will also tie Louis Oosthuizen (2010) for the lowest first round shot by a champion (65).

With a win, Spieth will be the sixth player to go wire-to-wire for a victory at the British Open, and the first since Rory McIlroy in 2014.

With a 67 Sunday, Spieth would tie Lee Trevino (1971) for the best score at a Royal Birkdale British Open in relation to par (-14)

Thanks Kevin for all the stats. They were interesting to read and provided some insight on how good Jordan Spieth actually is.

My own personal take was that he showed some chinks in his armor and I thought we were going to see a replay of the 2016 Masters. However, his dramatic bogey on the par 4, 13th hole was the spark of something magical that lead to a 3 stroke win over Matt Kuchar.

In Spieth-esk fashion, Jordan never lost his composure traded shots with Kuchar til the end. However, Kuchar had an opportunity to win his first Major during the middle third of the round. He missed several short putts that would have change the entire nature of the round; unlike the punch Mohammad Ali never gave George Foreman, Kuchar’s failure to knock out Spieth cost him the title.

My big takeaway from The Open Championship was to never stop playing. The final round was a perfect example of how the fortunes of golf can change dramatically in one round. Obviously, Spieth’s play is an obvious example, but what about Haotong Li who shot an impressive 63 to finish alone in third place. How about, Rory McIlroy’s return to the spotlight. And finally, Aaron Baddeley who shot the second lowest round of the day, 64, and moved up 47 sports in the standings. All of these players demonstrated that every shot is an opportunity to do something amazing.

The 146th Open Championship, but the memories of some great golf at Royal Birkdale will not soon be forgotten. Congratulations again to Jordan Spieth for winning his third Major. Everyone is already looking forward next year’s Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus, Scotland.